Well that explains it and now we can see why she felt so defeated in the end. She tried to buy time for a counerstrike that never arrived.

That being said I know this is a sci-fi fantasy series, but I’m really finding it hard to believe a dragon could move a laser cannon from space. Second to that I’m not sure how Donna could survive in space too, but I might believe AEGIS had some spare thing-a-ma-jig so she could breathe. I don’t think they’d have one in dragon size.

I’m assuming the dragon was teleported directly to the satellite by Donna, and has only been there for a few moments. He has no air to push his wings against (presumably) . . . but those wings never really seemed like they had sufficient area to support his weight anyway, so perhaps dragon-flying is at least partly magic-based.

Yeah, um… “teleport the satellite” sounds like a better plan than “teleport the dragon to move the satellite”. Can we have a retcon in the next strip where Donna is like “oh, yeah, Fritz is having trouble moving it, but I could just teleport it anyway!”

dragons move between worlds all the time so it makes since they can survive in space for at least a time. what i don’t understand is why not simply crash the bloody thing? heck he could destroy the focusing lens of the laser just to be safe before he tired to move it.

Okay… that makes a lot more sense, re: Rumy’s actions. And her comment on Soulson’s naivete helps his actions seem more plausible as well, though still struggling somewhat there. I’m going to assume Donna and Fritz are encased in some kind of force-field. Wasn’t that one of her group’s powers? Force fields? I feel like it was.

Why bother trying to MOVE the orbital laser? Satellites aren’t all that sturdy. They’re built to be JUST strong enough to handle the launch and deployment, and are more hardened for the environment than for any kind of trauma. Dragon has claws and a big, powerful tail and strong, sinuous body. It’s not like that satellite has massive engines or anything — IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME! Fold, spinde, and mutilate the thing, then whap the pieces into several different orbits with your tail!

I’ve been IN the satellite construction center at Goddard. They don’t make these things out of diamonds and buckyballs. They’re aluminum and fiberglass, with some titanium good measure, maybe some refractory ceramic. They’re NOT armored!

You are forgetting that this satellite was put into place by an agency with nigh-unlimited teleportation powers at their disposal. There was no need to ‘launch’ it at all, and no reason not to make it as sturdy as they possibly could. It probably IS made of diamonds and buckyballs.

Plus there’s the issue that the Dragon form still isn’t Fitz’ native form.

Lot of the things we take for granted for dragons like claws, tail, biting. They’d be instinctive to an actual dragon, but Fitz isn’t really a dragon. He probably hasn’t even thought of those actions.

As for the breathing in space thing, kinda depends on the setting, I suspect. The Dragonlance realm does have a history of letting its dragons fly in space. First time round was, it was a Brass, who was stuck on the red moon Lunatari.

And later on, there was the issue of the Dragon Overlords, after Takhisis (the main deity of evil) stole the planet and put it into another Crystal Sphere (think solar system). The Overlords hailed from another planet in that system, but in order to get more food and expand their domains, they moved to Krynn. And considering they were bigger and meaner than the local Dragons.. Well.. It got messy.

And then of course there are the Radiant Dragons, who’ve been known to travel through space as well. (Spelljammer)

Course those are just the AD&D/D&D related ones, one from other realms will act differently, but it’s more an issue of precedence.

It shouldn’t be that hard to move it or turn it. This is in space, where there is no resistance to movement. Even if it is very massive, the slightest tap should send it veering off course, and a strong one would send it spinning out of control and careening out of its orbit. Remember, this satellite needs unbelievably precise adjustments to lock onto a building-sized target from space. Even if the satellite is using its own thrusters to resist, those own corrections in a struggle with a dragon would not help keep it on target, and may even serve to throw itself off course.

That being said, I’m sure Fitz doesn’t want to struggle with an orbital laser cannon for all eternity (as awesome as that sounds) and since Mechtech can just reposition it any time she wants later, it’s probably best to just destroy it.

You still have to contend with the momentum of a several ton object in motion. The amount of force Fitz needs to exert is going to also be a function of how much time he had left when he got to the satellite. Plus, we don’t actually know just how far the targeting mechanism of the satellite can swing; I doubt it has to be directly over the target due to how inefficient and slow that would be to get into position.

Then again, we’re arguing the mechanics of a SPACE DRAGON. (It’s not like you can just flap your wings in a vacuum and expect it to do anything.) Just go with the awesome.

… so the Hand actually asked her to behave like a force of nature gone nuts?
… and she agreed to make the whole city “collateral” for her baby’s sake?
That makes the Hand really evil, for sure. They will get beaten, no doubt.